Present Simple and Present Continuous Rules

Present Simple and Present Continuous are two English grammar tenses that can be used to describe actions in the present.

The first one is used to describe an action that is repeated with a certain regularity, for example, “I play tennis every Saturday''.

The second one indicates a continuous action or an action that is happening right now, at the moment of speaking, for example, “I'm playing tennis right now”.

However, this is just the basic information you need to remember about these two tenses. To learn how to use them correctly, you need to understand the grammatical differences. Booyya is here to help!

Where the difference between Present Simple and Present Continuous lies

The difference can be seen in the rules for the formation of each of the tenses, which you must remember:

• Present Simple = Subject (noun/pronoun) + Verb (if the action is performed by the third person singular (he, she, it), add the ending -s/-es to the verb): 

My cat likes fresh fish. 

• Present Continuous = Subject (noun/pronoun) + to be in the appropriate form (am, is, are) + Verb -ing: 

I'm watching a movie now.  

The usage of these tenses

Present Simple is used to tell about:

• someone's habits or preferences that are unchangeable;

• repetitive actions, such as daily routine;

• known truths and general statements related to specific facts, such as the color of spring grass or the size of the sun;

• timetables and schedules of buses, trains, planes etc.;

• directions or instructions for actions with an imperative tone, such as cooking recipes;

• retellings of stories, for example in sports reports or news articles;

• titles of books, news articles, and online publications.

Present Continuous can be used to describe an action that is happening:

• right now (or two simultaneous events);

• around now (when we say that we are looking for a job, we are probably not looking for a job at the moment of speaking, but we have done it before and will continue to do so later);

• in the near future, but with arrangements that involve adherence to a specific time (“We are meeting next Thursday”);

• now, but the action indicates a trend (“Modern couples are being responsible about having children nowadays”);

• continuously and it annoys us or makes us angry (“You are interrupting me all the time!”).

Negative sentences

To communicate, we need to know more than just the rules for creating affirmative sentences in these two grammar tenses.

So remember that to express negation in Present Simple, you need to use the auxiliary verb “do” / “does” and the negative particle “not”:

• I don't play computer games.

• They don't run in the morning.

To form a negative sentence in Present Continuous, you need to add the particle “not” to the form of the verb “to be”:

• She isn't studying biology now. 

• I'm not looking for a relationship right now.

Interrogative sentences

The formation of interrogative sentences in these two grammar tenses follows similar principles. A special interrogative word or auxiliary verb should be used in front of the subject (pronoun/noun). For Present Simple, it's “do” / “does”, and  for Present Continuous, it's “to be” in the correct form according to the person.

Here are some examples of interrogative sentences in Present Simple:

• Who can play the piano?

• Does she work out at the gym every day?

These are the examples of interrogative sentences in Present Continuous:

• Are they walking down the street?

• What is he doing right now?

Table of differences between Present Simple and Present Continuous

To help you remember this information and understand the difference between these tenses better, we have prepared a summary table:

How to memorize all the rules for using tenses quickly and effectively

It‘s important to have an interesting and clear grammar at hand, such as the courses on the Booyya platform. For example, our beginner's course, which consists of only one lesson, will help you to get acquainted with the tenses. However, this lesson is very deep and meaningful:

• theoretical material is presented in the form of a comic;

• all the grammar on the topic is collected in a convenient presentation;

• exercises can be completed online;

• there are some tables for revision.

The course is available on our online platform. It’s an interactive textbook that contains interesting videos and pictures in addition to the text. You can also complete exercises in the textbook, which makes the learning process convenient and effective. Although the language of the course teacher is English, it is adapted to a beginner's level.